With only three league games remaining and the University of Vermont staying a strong competitor in the Hockey East, the Boston University women’s hockey team needed points, and that’s exactly what they got.
The four points collected from the pair of wins against the University of New Hampshire could not have come at a better time for the Terriers (15-10-6, 10-8-4 Hockey East).
BU is now in third place in the conference with 24 points, while Vermont (12-11-9, 8-7-7 Hockey East) is trailing by one point after its tie against Providence College and a blowout loss to No. 6 Boston College. This remains important as playoffs begin in two weeks and teams fight for home-ice advantage.
“The easiest thing is win two games next weekend and you know you’re at home ice,” said BU head coach Brian Durocher. “So, we’ll try to take care of our business, do the best we can and it will make life a lot easier.”
After a not so favorable 1-3-5 start to 2017, the Terriers got back on the winning side of things and this was largely at the hands of their offense, which has had no difficulties finding the back of the net.
BU is one of the few teams that has yet to be shutout, and that’s no surprise with a potent offense, especially with players such as junior forward Victoria Bach and graduate student forward Mary Parker, who are both tied for the most goals of the team at 20, leading the way.
BU’s ability to produce goals was displayed by the nine it scored against New Hampshire (11-17-2, 9-11-2 Hockey East) to complete their first weekend sweep since it played Princeton University on Nov. 25 and 26.
“I think we’ve been playing really well recently,” junior forward Rebecca Leslie said. “I think that our offense is coming, start with the D-zone and we’ve really been taking care of that and it’s been looking good.”
Leslie was one of the most productive offensive players over the weekend, notching two goals and two assists in two games.
However, the offensive production was not restricted to only the forwards.
Freshman defenseman Abby Cook scored the first goal of the night on Friday after a feed from senior forward Maddie Elia. The Kelowna, British Columbia native also registered two assists in the series.
On Saturday, captain and senior defensemen Alexis Crossley capitalized on BU’s power play at 7:29 in the second frame.
“[Crossley’s] was a beautiful shot,” Durocher said. “We’ve gotta get points from the blue line. We’ve been talking about getting more pucks to the net whether it’s a wrist shot or a quicker delivery on the slap shot and she did that today.”
Durocher thought that the offense brought the necessary grit and determination to the game, however, their biggest downfall was giving up four power play goals over the two games.
“We need to find a way to be a little bit better,” Durocher said. “The goals happened in different fashions but it still added up to four goals in two games and that’s too many.”
Though the team’s offensive play had its faults, the Terriers ultimately found the back of the net in two close games to earn four essential points. They look forward to next weekend’s contests against Northeastern University and the University of Maine.
“Neither one is gonna be a walk in the park,” Durocher said. “[It’s] nice to be at home but we just gotta keep getting better and if there’s one thing we can prove next week that’ll help us get us to the playoffs then let’s go do it.”